Narweiran Politics
The political structure of the Narweir Republic is fairly simple at a glance but loaded with nuances that make it something of a nightmare to navigate. For example, any native born citizen who is at least twenty years older than the age of legal majority (as per the Common Sense Laws) is allowed to run for President, regardless of social station, but in practice only male humans in their mid-to-late 50s have any chance of actually winning; once in a while a Citybound, Novimfal, or Halfling might succeed, but that is a rare occurrence and no woman has ever made it any farther than Senator. Running for Senate is likewise easy, but it's just not going to succeed without significant backing from local and national business entities and strict adherence to party lines. Ostensibly the Republican Senate is the group that's really in charge of what goes on in the country, while the President is mostly a public figurehead with minor executive and legislative powers and the commander-in-chief of the military, but the Senate tends to follow the President's lead when it comes to social and fiscal policies. The Senate isn't as much of a mess of bureaucracy as one might expect in a democratic nation, mostly because the dozen or so parties are so similar that only the locals can differentiate between them. The only real differences in fact are that each party desires a slightly larger budget for their personal causes- never anything more than two or three percent of the budget, any more than that would be impolite. The Technocratic Party favors improvement of national industries first. The Extropian Party believe more money should go to technological developments. The Veteran Party wants more money for the military. The Old Home Guard Party wants more money for social securities funds. The New Union Party wishes to spend more on foreign relations. The Populus Party works to get more money for investment into social programs. The Young Democratic Party supports legislature that nets more money for education. The Green Party wants more money for ecological programs. The Magocracy Party wants more funding for magical pursuits. The Loyalist Party works to get more money for various propaganda and behavior enforcement practices. The Broker Party (sometimes jokingly referred to as the 'Scrooges') are bent on saving as much money as possible once all necessary bills are paid off. The only group that sticks out is the Hunter Party, which loudly espouses that the Republic should try to be at least a little like their neighbors for the sake of effective foreign relations, in particular they favor the establishment and promotion of Freelancer companies- generally looked down upon in the Republic- to help defend the nation to ease stresses on the police and military and rake in wealth. The Hunters have very little power, and don't usually accomplish much. Senators have two year terms, and may only run up to five times. At the top of the pile is the President, whose duties have already been described. Unlike with the Senate, a President's term lasts for ten years, and they can run as often as they like. The current president, who's only one election away from a record breaking ten consecutive terms, is Nathan "Old Birch" Strauss. President Strauss, despite the fact that he does not often share many of the social and political views of his fellow Narweirans, a much beloved figure for his tenacity, his taciturn demeanor, and his violence. He's often upheld as the angriest human alive, always hobbling around leaning on an old birch cane which he regularly uses to beat the ever loving hell out of anyone who happens to irritate him- which isn't a difficult chore. On more than three hundred occasions across his 94 year reign, there have been attempts on his life by foreign powers- usually the Allamians- and in every case he's personally beaten his would-be assassins to death with just his cane. The public positively adores him for it, makes him seem like a symbol of strength. But the propaganda mills rarely if ever mention that old Strauss does not care for the people he supposedly serves anymore than the people he's killed- he hates everyone. Fellow humans, kemono, orcs, undead, the NEF, the Allamians, the Ryengans, countrymen, women, old people, young people, gods, devils, angels, demons, there's basically no one that Strauss doesn't hate. Ever since his wife died fifty years ago he's only become an increasingly mean-spirited curmudgeon, who just wants to be left alone. The only reason he keeps playing these political games is because the Senate and his Cabinet keep demanding that he do so, and doing so shuts them up for a little while. Narweir Republic Back to Main Page